Building an impressive investment portfolio

Property Secrets client Alan Brown has an impressive investment portfolio, find out how he did it.

Video transcript below:

My name is Alan Brown and I am a Property Secrets Investor.

How did you hear about Property Secrets?

Alan Brown: I got that out of a magazine and from that I made some phone calls, I looked at a number of different ads and I liked what I felt and I felt when I got on the end of [the whole].

Did the offer of free property coaching entice you to come and see Property Secrets?

Alan Brown: Because I was unsure what I was doing, I was sceptical and wanted to come along and just see what was going on. So with the free coaching that was available, there was no option, well no risk, so I came along and had a listen and it all sounded good and good move for me.

Since visiting Property Secrets, what have you achieved?

Alan Brown: I came to Property Secrets with one investment property which was not doing all that well, but I now have 4 with two granny flats on two, no a granny flat on two and going through a third and push to the fourth shortly.

What benefits do you get from constructing Granny Flats?

Alan Brown: Well each of the granny flats makes the property completely cash positive. So that obviously then makes it easier to move on and ultimately looking to be financially free. So that’s the ultimate aim.

How did Property Secrets help with your first investment property?

Alan Brown: Well, the property I had before I came to Property Secrets was, it was doing okay, but it wasn’t great. But the idea of putting a granny flat on was an idea but I didn’t know how to go about it. So with Property Secrets I was able to then realise that and so now the property will have a granny flat on it very shortly and that will turn it positive as well and it will all fall in the line with the other properties.

What are the advantages of Positive Gearing?

Alan Brown: So as each property is getting the granny flat on it, it’s turning positive, it’s making it financially much easier. It’s like I said being positive means there is money in my pocket to make sure that I can pay down the any short debts that I had and on my own property, residential property and to pay all the debts associated with the purchase of the new properties I got.

Does Positive Gearing make buying more property easy?

Alan Brown: Yeah, it’s got easier from the second granny flat on. It’s starting to free cash up. So I am looking forward to seeing how that continues. But I am extremely confident that it will, because the model works and it’s what worked for me. So it certainly has been good.

Does property investing help with your Tax Return?

Alan Brown: Tax returns have gone from you know, low 1-2,000 dollars because of study or whatever else, but now we are talking about $10-15,000, close to $20,000 worth of tax returns.

What is the main concept behind Property Secrets?

Alan Brown: The main concept that Property Secrets uses is the idea of having land that is large enough to sub divide to put a little granny flat on to it comfortably, where both residents are comfortable living here. So it gives you that concept to move forward, whereas you know it’s just, it is what it is and you can’t do anything with it, you can’t develop it, you can’t do anything else and you know the idea of buying up a plan is often the property is too small, the land is too small to do anything else with except perhaps make the house bigger, which really doesn’t give you the returns you need.

How do Development Sites lead to financial freedom?

Alan Brown: So the idea then of being able to put duplex properties on to the land, it just means that you can sell and own at the same time. So you can sell off, you obviously make a profit from that and then you know reduce your debts or eliminate your debts to then have an income which has not got a necessarily a large overhead behind it.

What did you hope to gain from visiting Property Secrets?

Alan Brown: Yes, I certainly came to Property Secrets with the idea of looking at my own future and some security that I can see that there is a concept here that is reproducible and achievable and to the point where I hope to be retiring early and financially free much sooner than I would have before retirement at least.

What have you gained from visiting Property Secrets?

Alan Brown: I came to Property Secrets because I was looking and I felt that there was something in property that I didn’t understand, I didn’t know how to do it, I didn’t know what to do. And what this has allowed me to do is to free up and use my money wisely and make it work, rather than me trying to put more hours in at work and that wasn’t , because that wasn’t going to result in any real outcome. So it was about working smarter with what I had and optimising it on every corner and every element which I often wouldn’t know about.

Can anyone invest in property?

Alan Brown: To me it makes it, it’s something anybody can do, if they are just going to open their eyes, open their ears and listen to what’s going on and you know sort of be sceptical, but you know as I was, but I couldn’t find a reason not to do it, and so I have done it and it’s worked, continued working.

How do you benefit from ongoing Property Coaching?

Alan Brown: After the purchase of each property, there is an opportunity to come in and see the Property Secrets people and in that there is the coaching to ensure that everything is on track and that the properties are performing and every one of them is and it’s a great opportunity to re-evaluate, check your goals, check what you want to do, see where you are going and actually get another opinion about what you think is happening is actually happening and you can consolidate your thoughts to allow you to be confident about moving forward to whatever it is you want to do next, which was obviously the next property.

Would you like to mention anything else about Property Secrets?

Alan Brown:Yeah, it doesn’t matter which of the staff at Property Secrets I dealt with. Everyone has been extremely friendly, professional, efficient and over performance from my point of view. So I am a great person for needing and expecting service. Well it’s never fallen low, it’s always been high performing, it’s always been a professional attitude, but without the need or the want to become part of a number. I felt like everybody knows who I am and that’s important to me.